Rising antisemitic violence, terror attacks in US spur House Homeland Security Committee hearing
EXCLUSIVE: A GOP lawmaker on the House's Homeland Security Committee is spearheading a hearing on growing antisemitic violence in the U.S. in response to recent attacks in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.
These attacks are not outliers, according to the chairman of the committee's counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, Rep. August Pfluger of Texas. He has scheduled a hearing for June 11 to examine the rise of anti-Israel terrorist attacks within the American homeland.
"From harassment of Jewish students and calls to 'Globalize the Intifada,' to arson against the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania and the cold-blooded execution of two young Israeli Embassy staffers in our nation's capital – the heinous attack in Boulder this Sunday is part of a disturbing pattern, not an isolated incident," Pfluger said in a Wednesday statement to Fox News Digital. "Antisemitic violence and harassment will not, and cannot, remain unchecked in the United States of America – whether it's on college campuses or in our communities."
"In the wake of the foreign policy failures and open-border policies of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with state and local law enforcement, must be prepared to meet the moment as we face an increasingly complex threat landscape at home and abroad," he said. "Congress must ensure the United States remains a bastion of freedom for all, and that our Jewish neighbors can live free from hatred and persecution."
Among those who will appear at the hearing is Kerry Sleeper, the deputy director for intelligence and information sharing with the Secure Community Network. The group is the largest Jewish security organization in North America. Sleeper oversees its 24/7 operations of the National Jewish Security Operations Command Center, which coordinates intelligence with agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI.
Pfluger has previously sounded the alarm about antisemitic violence and other terror threats that jeopardize the safety of U.S. citizens. For example, he reintroduced legislation in February, known as the Countering Online Radicalization and Terrorism Act, which would require DHS to conduct assessments each year evaluating the threat terrorist groups like ISIS and Hamas pose to the U.S. through the use of foreign cloud-based mobile or desktop messaging applications.
The measure has received bipartisan support, and Democratic Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California is a co-sponsor.
Pfluger's hearing comes not long after a gunman opened fire and killed two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington in May. A pro-Palestinian man, identified as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, was arrested in connection with the case, according to authorities.
Likewise, Sunday's terrorist attack in Colorado left a dozen people injured – including a Holocaust survivor – during an event organized by Run for Their Lives, a grassroots group that holds events urging the release of Israeli hostages.
The suspect in the attack, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, first entered the U.S. under the Biden administration and had overstayed his visa, multiple Department of Homeland Security sources first told Fox News. Soliman, 45, allegedly yelled "Free Palestine" and used a makeshift flamethrower to conduct that attack, according to law enforcement officials.
Lawmakers and intelligence experts have long warned about foreign terrorists entering the U.S. and conducting attacks against American citizens.
For example, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, then-chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., warned of such terror threats in August 2024, following the release of a report from House Judiciary Committee Republicans that determined the Biden administration released nearly 100 illegal immigrants on the terrorist watch list.
"Since the Biden-Harris Administration's failed open border policies have welcomed potential terrorists into our nation, we're working to combat these threats and safeguard Americans in their own backyards," Turner and Green said in a joint statement in August 2024 in response to the report.
The FBI has voiced similar concerns.
"I have warned for some time now about the threat that foreign terrorists may seek to exploit our southwest border or some other port of entry to advance a plot against Americans," former FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Judiciary Committee in April 2024. "Just last month, for instance, the Bureau and our joint terrorism task forces worked with ICE in multiple cities across the country as several individuals with suspected international terrorist ties were arrested using ICE's immigration authorities."
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